Pages

Thursday, February 7, 2013

When I Grow Up

What do you want to be when you grow up?

During my teenage years, my answer was always, "An anchor woman, like Katie Couric. Except, of course, they would say, ...and now back to Allison Remillard in the studio." (Remillard is my maiden name.)

That career goal steered my choices in college as I settled into a journalism major. Then I started hearing that broadcast journalism was a tough road, and the jobs of the future (the real money-makers) were in advertising and PR. So I changed my emphasis and explored a different field of journalism through internships, classes and eventually my first official job at an agency.

Fast forward three years from then, and I'm a stay-at-home mom and a military spouse living on the other side of the country. Is this what I wanted to be when I grew up? 

Trick question.

Maybe I'm not grown up yet? Hmmm, when you pay all of your own bills, use your car blinkers religiously and dust your ceiling fans you're probably a grown up.

I think the real answer is that you don't have to be any one thing. You can be one thing and then another or a lot of different things at once. For now I'm feeling lucky to be Grace's mom, but I still like learning and exploring things that make me excited.

This month, in addition to studying for my AFAA Group Fitness Certification, I also enrolled in an online digital photography class. The Groupon was a great deal (aren't they all), and I really want to learn how to take better pictures with my camera (not in auto).

The first week was all about learning White Balance and ISO.

ISO is one of the ways you help your camera understand the lighting conditions you are shooting in. The higher the number, the less light you're shooting in.
(100, 200, 400, 800, 1600) 

White Balance is how your camera balances the colors in your photo by pinpointing the white color.
(Sunny, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten light, White Fluorescent light, Flash)

My week 1 assignment was to practice shooting in Program Mode (P) and setting my ISO and White Balance correctly. I also got to submit one photo.

Week 1 Photography Assignment
I choose this photo because I really liked the soft light and the sun reflecting in Grace's hair.  I like that with photography, you decide what is a "good picture" and there is room for different interpretations.

Honestly though, I don't know what's harder, learning to use my camera or trying to photograph a toddler. Thank goodness I'm not shooting with film! Delete, delete, delete. 

Maybe when I grow up I'll be a professional hobbyist/arts and crafter? Or a full-time student of cool things?

For now, I'm perfectly happy being a mom and a wife. I have important work to do, and ceiling fans to clean. Wink, wink!

No comments:

Post a Comment